Lightning Bug - EMPI Icon Comes Home

As Chris Ashworth was showing us around Romance With Rust--his Orange, California, fabrication shop--we scarcely noticed the blue VW Bug rolling chassis that was sitting right in the middle of the shop. We don't have anything against VW Bugs, but his other projects commanded more of our attention. Just as we were wrapping up our visit, Chris asked us if we'd be interested in the VW. It was, after all, the Lightning Bug--the first all-motor VW to break into the 10s. That got our attention.

Campaigned by the Schley Bros., the Lightning Bug made its first 10-second pass on October 6, 1972, almost 29 years to the day before we visited Ashworth's shop. Shortly after, the car was sold to Diego Forbes in Puerto Rico, who painted it yellow and raced it as El Guineo. The Schley Bros. bought the Bug from Diego in 2010 with the goal of restoring it to its 1972 glory. When the car is finished, it will visit the Bug-In in England and tour Europe before being enshrined in the NHRA museum. See more at RomanceWithRust.com.

2/2After acid-dipping the car to reveal bodywork hastily repaired after several meetings with the wall, Chris Ashworth got the metal back into shape before it was sprayed bright metallic blue like its 1972 livery.